The Maine Legislature voting against the removal of the 0.4-acre sand dune on Sears Island to construct the offshore wind energy port shows how clueless our Legislature is.

The carbon dioxide levels in our atmosphere are now as high as they were 4.25 million years ago. The sea level 4.25 million years ago was 75 feet higher than today. The laws of physics dictate that Earth must warm because of the additional heat trapped by the carbon dioxide now in the atmosphere and that which will be added in the coming decades. More than 90% of the excess heat, retained by the Earth since the advent of the industrial revolution, has been retained in the oceans. That heat is not going anywhere. It will take hundreds of thousand of years for it to dissipate. Sorry, the oven has been left on for too long. The cake is baked. It is not if sea level will rise. It is how quickly it will rise.

The growing consensus of heavy hitters in global warming science are saying sea level rise will happen much faster than what governments are now presenting. The heavy hitters are now saying 10 feet of sea level rise by 2075 is possible. Maine government is currently planning on 4 feet of sea level rise by 2100, with 9 feet possible. Four feet of sea level rise will destroy every existing sand dune in the state, and Commercial Street, Bayside, Deering Oaks and Old Orchard Beach will all be under water.

Carl Wilcox, P.E.
Minot

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